Residents claim landlords failed to install ‘essential’ fire doors

A housing group has been accused of neglecting the lives of residents after a fire took place in their block of flats.

Furious tenants living in Landau House in Chatsworth Road, Kilburn, have spoken out after they were forced to flee their homes when a blaze broke out in a studio flat at around 10pm last night (Monday).

According to Sabrina Taylor, chairwoman of the Landau House residents association, special lights in the block’s hallway which are meant to alert residents to a fire failed to work.

The 33-year-old also claims Brent Housing Partnership (BHP), who manages the building on behalf of Brent Council, also failed to install fire doors despite an assessment ruling they were essential.

She said she used brown tape and wet towels to stop the smoke from coming into her flat after she noticed it slowly gushing in under her front door.

She added: “If I had gone to bed at 9.30pm, like I usually do, then I would be dead.

“BHP is good at producing marketing documents and insignificant surveys but they are not very good at protecting the welfare of their residents.”

Another resident Carol Redding, 51, also questioned whether the flats had been installed with fire doors.

She said: “Last night could have been a death trap for everyone in this block.

“They (BHP) don’t really care about their residents”.

Fire investigators managed to contain the fire which they believe may have in a fuse box.

A spokesperson for BHP told the Times they are conducting an investigation into the fire and the resident’s complaints.